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My first female, Shelby, passed away during the night.  She had been going downhill for a few weeks now, and 2 weeks ago I moved her to a smaller cage (for fear that she would die and the others would eat her).  She seemed to be doing okay and I thought maybe she is just old (which she was in rat age).  She was having a hard time eating normally (which I substituted the normal food for more softer food and placed her food on a lid on the cage floor so she could get to it easier).  Then about a week ago I noticed she was walked funny, and I learned that she had lost her sight (which was already fuzzy and almost blind because she was a pink eyed rat but she had lost total sight) as well as her balance.  Her breathing got really bad last night and I knew she would pass by morning.  So I made her extra comfy. 



Shelby: Summer 2006 - 29 Mar 2008

Her mother, sister and brother all passed before her.  She leaves behind her daughter Scarface and some Nieces and Nephews.

ALL LEVELS LISTED ARE NORMAL, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

Vitamin B12 -------------------- 601
Iron ------------------------------- 65

Glucose -------------------------63 (LOW)
BUN ----------------------------- 13
Creat ---------------------------- 1.4 (HIGH)
Sodium --------------------------104
K ---------------------------------- 4.1
Chloride ------------------------ 102
CO2 ------------------------------ 28.3
Ca -------------------------------- 9.5
TP -------------------------------- 6.5
Albumin ------------------------ 3.8
AST ------------------------------ 27
ALT ------------------------------ 37
Alk Phos ----------------------- 113
Total Bili ------------------------ 0.4

WBC ---------------------------- 5.9
RBC ---------------------------- 4.76
HGB ---------------------------- 13.6
HCT ---------------------------- 40.8
MCV ---------------------------- 86
MCH ---------------------------- 29
MCHC -------------------------- 33
Platelet Ct. -------------------- 318
RDW --------------------------- 15.4 (HIGH)

Neutrophil % ----------------- 66
Lymph % ---------------------- 23
Mono % ------------------------ 9 (HIGH)
Eos % -------------------------- 2
Baso % ------------------------ 0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Okay so that is what everything is.  I don't really know what a lot of those are.  But my surgeon was pleased with the results, so I should be to.

Also I was measured and my new measurements are:
WAIST: 46 inches
HIPS: 54 inches

And I will return August 22nd for my 1 year checkup and I will need to have labwork done for that appointment to.  I need to go to the patient hub and print out Lab Protocol C to bring with me to my Dr when I get those labs done.  I mentioned it here more as a reminder to myself than to share with others. 

The top one is gray with white belly, but it is a hooded as well.  You can barely see it when holding her but her head and a line down her spine is one shade darker than the rest of her.  For now I am calling her Squirt, because she is a little squirt.

The bottom one is a Agouti Rex.  Her fur is brownish and yellowish mixed in with a gray fuzzy belly (almost like a norway rat).  You can really see her Rex traits in her whiskers (their curly at the ends) and on her back (soft curly hair).

I will name them later, I want to observe them for a few days and see what name would fit them best.  Squirt may end up keeping her name, it really seems to fit her!

Well Tuesday I went to my regular Dr and got my labs drawn for Dr. Baker. 
My nurse practicioner (I call her my Dr, even though she isn't one) Bonnie, I think she got aggravated with me, because I haven't been taking my anti-depressants, or some of my COPD medicine.  But I told her it wasn't easy taking pills and plus I wasn't depressed as much. 
But she said that I haven't come all this way to start messing up.  She meant weightloss wise, and I am sure COPD wise, as my COPD was really bad an not under control when I first was diagnosed.  But I am sure that she is getting on to me because she cares what happens to me, I have been seeing her as a Dr for over 6 years now, maybe even 7. 

So she refilled all that medicine, and I am now back to taking my Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Advair and Singular again everyday.

Also, today I go to Dr. Baker for my 6 month check up!  I am so excited!  I think they will take my picture to.  I am interested in seeing what my measurements are, since I don't know how to measure myself at home.

I'll post back later with an update on my labs.

We got to San Diego Monday evening, we had to stop overnight in Flagstaff due to a bad snow storm, so that added a day to our driving.  Tuesday we went to Balboa Park all day and went into a few of the museums there. I got several pressed pennies as well.  My penny book is filled, I had to buy another one, LOL.
Wednesday we spent the day at Sea World, and I got several pennies there too.  After Sea World, we went to Mission Bay, and I got some sea shells and sand to bring home for mu turtle tank.  
Yesterday we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo.  I got a bunch of pressed oennies and bought a San Diego Zoo pressed penny album to keep my pennies in.  I had a lot of fun there.   Afterwards we went to Spring Valley to visit my grandma and grandpa, and also my great aunt Chris and cousin Loriell.  Loriell had gastric bypass 2 years ago, and she looks great!!!  She had a male friend there to, he was cute!!
Today we are going to Old Town and hopefully to Poway to see my sisters dad.  He works at J & W Redwood, which belongs to his family.  
We leave Sunday to come back to Arkansas.

Well I will be leaving in an hour or so to San Diego, yay!!  It is my Dad's 50th birthday and he wants his daughters to be there.  My sister, her husband and baby, plus me are driving out there.  We hope to sleep in Albuquerque, NM tonight and be in San Diego tomorrow.
I'll be gone until the 11th.  Not sure if I will have access to internet or not, I will try to check my email on my phone.  Key word here being "TRY TO" LOL
I hope we avoid some of the nastier weather, but wouldn't mind seeing some beautiful snow along the way. 
I'll miss all my OH friends!!

This is my reply to someone who stopped the protein supplements, I wanted to share what happened to me in Dec when I stopped taking everything.  So here it is, my story...

Hello, last month, I accidently skipped taking my vitamins (chewable multi, B12 and calcium) and my protein powder.  Well a few days turned into weeks and without even thinking, I went most of December without any supplements what so ever. 

Eventually I started becoming more tired and tired everyday, then right after the new year, I started suffering from terrible restless legs syndrome (something I have had in the past) but it was worse than ever and it also affected my arms, and I would be up during the night (with my CPAP machine and oxygen still on) walking around in circles and moving my arms up and down and crying.  I had many sleepless nights because of it.  It also started during the day anytime I stayed still for more than a few minutes.

On top of that, my hair fell out even worse. 

So, I am now back to taking my multivitamin, calcium, protein powder, B12 (liquid with other vitamins in it) and I added iron because of the restless legs and arms.  After a few days, the restless legs and arms went away (and haven't come back).  I am not so sleepy anymore during the day and I have started going to bed at a normal time and waking up at a decent hour.

I can't even imagine what all else could have possibly went wrong if I had not started taking everything again.  I just have to remember next time, not to let it go like that.  I now keep all my vitamins and supplements on the little table next to my computer, since that is the first place I go when I wake up.  And I keep my protein powder container on the counter in the kitchen where I will see it as soon as I walk in there.

That's just my little personal experience.

Okay, I saw this post on the main OH board, and I am definitely going to try this.  I decided I would rather post the link to the post than cutting n pasting it here.  That way you can see all the replies and such about it.

Also the first post has the link tot he blog the recipe was found at, so you should go check that out to.  I haven't yet, but I am going to, might find some other interesting things there.

CLICK HERE FOR POST

Last night my rat, Meggie, died.  It came on real quick.  By the time I picked her up, her mouth and feet were cold and purple and she was gasping once every 30 seconds or so.  She was fine earlier, and boom she went into respiratory failure.  She is my second rat to have died that way, that I know of.  I barely had enough time to hook her up to oxygen, by the time I got the tube to her mouth she was dead, but I kept it there for a few minutes just to be sure. 
She was almost 2 years old.  My mom got her when she was younger and she was real nice, would lay in your arm purring until she fell asleep, and then 2 weeks later she was fat as could be and she had 3 babies.  2 of those babies ended up being my first 2 rats, Stuart and Shelby and my mom kept the oddball, TwoTone who was had a brown hood. 

Meggie came to live with me last summer, because her and TwoTone were biting and being mean.  TwoTone lived long enough for me to breed and then I put her down.  I will miss Meggie biting me, even though I hated it, I still loved her.  Now I only have 7 rats. 

30 years ago today my mother labored over the delivery of one little cute baby.  Me!  At 3:30 am at Rebsamen Hospital my mom had me.  She doesn't remember the labor, because they knocked her out (like they did to many women then), but when she woke there I was. 
So far, for my birthday I have gotten a heater from my roomie (which I really needed, it is just to cold to go without heat) and a beautiful 14K gold ring with 5 diamonds from my dad (which is beautiful and sparkly, thanks dad).

Since it has only been my birthday for 1 1/2 hours, not much has happened, yet.  I am hoping to go out and eat.  Maybe Dixie Cafe.  I have only been there once, and it was pretty good, and I am sure my roomie would love to go out and eat.  I also want to go and see the new Will Smith movie, which just came out, I Am Legend. 

All of Will Smith's entertainment endeavors have ended up on my top lists, whether it was his hip hop music in the 80's, 90's and today, TV Shows or movies.  And he always is a double whammy with his acting and singing together.  Oh and you have to admit that he is hot!!